Tag Archives: 826LA

ELL Summer Camp at 826LA

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It has been a very busy July for me this year. I had just released my video book trailer for “Legacy Discovered” into the social media universe two months ago and have been building my Twitter following and joining Google+ communities to help get the word out. I have also helped a few friends out with some projects this month. However, an important part of my July was volunteering for the ELL summer camp for 826LA.

This was the second summer camp for which I have volunteered and it had a more creative mission for the elementary level kids who signed up than the afterschool tutoring and writing sessions done during the school year. For one thing, there was no school or homework assignments so the camp could fully focus on the creative writing projects it encouraged the children to take on. ELL stands for English Language Learning and the four week camp used theme weeks to get the children to improve their grammar skills and inspire their writing creativity. Each theme week was led by a different summer associate who devised the daily lesson plans and the week’s special clap, a special cheer the children would do after one of them has shared something he or she had written. Each day, each student had to come up with a word related to the current theme and write it with their definition on a note card to be handed in. The kids were grouped as teams at different tables with a volunteer or two to assist and encourage them as the program was presented. There were two sessions every weekday, the morning session for the younger children up to third grade and the afternoon session for the fourth through sixth grade kids. There were a couple of days during the camp period when both sessions were combined for a group field trip. I did not volunteer for the field trips, but my plan was to sign up for two days a week as a volunteer for the afternoon session with the older kids.

The first week was Food Week and the daily clap was two claps and a rub of the tummy while saying “Yum, Yum!” Early in the week, the room was turned into a cafe with horrible food like peanut butter and pencil shavings sandwiches, prompting the kids to write critical reviews. On another day, a food truck came to visit and thank you letters were written. These were some innovative ways to get the kids interested in food, but for many of the boys, good food was not all that exciting.

The second week was Nature Week and it started with a nature walk field trip, which I did not volunteer to join. However, Andrea, the summer associate responsible for this week, felt I could present something special to the kids. The Tuesday lesson plan was to introduce the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, which included the Grand Canyon. She asked and I provided her with a few of my photos from my visit a few years ago to the Grand Canyon, then she had me come up during the afternoon session to give a personal description and valuable information about this wonder protected as a national park. The writing project for the day was to create a travel guide for a real or imagined vacation place. I was able to provide picture and national park guides at my table to help our team. As kids read their guides, the others would cheer them with two claps and a chirp with our hands put together, flapping like a bird.

The third week was Space Week, which included the penultimate field trip to the California Science Center where the space shuttle Endeavor was on display. I did not volunteer for the field trip, but I brought in my photos of the space shuttle Columbia landing at Edwards Air Force Base in the 80s the day before the field trip to further enhance the kids’ enjoyment of the trip. The main writing project for the week was to write a story about saving the earth from an asteroid collision. Now this was a subject to get the boys excited about.

The final week of camp was Future Week, but for me, it was about trying to schedule my volunteer time with potential jury service and two Television Academy networking events. My deal with the 826LA team was that I would not sign up on the schedule, but rather just show up if I was not needed for jury service. I was able to show up on Monday and Tuesday to help the kids write letters to their future selves, but I really had my fingers crossed to be available on Friday for the book release party. The best stories were being gathered and published as a book for the 826LA Time Travel Marts and Friday was the day the kids got to read their best works to the group. However, the LA County Courts did need me to show up for jury selection in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. My name was not selected for three potential juries, but time was ticking away. Suddenly, by mid-afternoon, the remainder of us in the jury room was informed that we were no longer needed and I rushed off through early afternoon rush hour to be able to get to the party in time to hear many of the stories being read. I walked into the party with my jury certification raised over my head to the cheers of all of the kids. I was glad I made a difference in their lives.

For more information about the 826 organization, you can go to 826national.org. Los Angeles residents can check on the happenings of the two local centers by going to 826la.org.

A Year with 826LA

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It has been a little over a year since I started volunteering for 826LA, the Los Angeles chapter of the national non-profit organization dedicated to helping elementary to high school kids with tutoring assistance and projects to enhance their literary creativity. My volunteer work has focused on the afterschool tutoring sessions for elementary students, scheduling my time for the Tuesday and Thursday sessions during the school year. I also volunteered the same two days a week during a four week summer camp in July which focused on group writing with theme weeks. When I first started with 826LA a year ago, the basic process was very flexible. Volunteer tutors would spread out among the various tables, and then students would seek out open spots as they came in. When homework was done and a student was encouraged to write a story for the upcoming chapbook, the story was written, revised and approved for publication on the same day. However, in the course of the year, staff evaluations, parent/staff meetings and volunteer feedback helped design a more organized process that was more beneficial in guiding the students. Within each six week publishing cycle, students were assigned to a specific seat, as were regular volunteers, separating students that tended to distract each other and allowing students and tutors to bond over a longer period of time. For the first four weeks of the publishing cycle, students were encouraged to write stories based on a theme, reflected in the written prompts on the blackboard and put them back into their binder. In the fifth week, the student was to select one of the stories he or she had written and work with the tutor to edit, revise and expand it for final publication. Tutors were encouraged to be more critical before approving it to be shown to the staff coordinator. Tutors were also asked to be more detailed in each student’s daily homework log, providing detail on the student’s work habits and emotional disposition, giving the staff valuable information during parent meetings. A little structure has gone a long way in providing guidance to these students.

Another change was the addition of a “Barnacle” bag under each table that contained various school and art supplies to encourage the students, and I have been credited with the addition of one of the elements in this bag. After my first week of tutoring, I realized that demonstrating or having a student practice math or spelling with paper and pencil was not efficient, so I bought a dry-erase board and markers from a local drugstore and added it to my backpack. Lesson demonstrations were quickly presented, student practice errors were quickly erased and corrected, and the board also became popular for quick art projects when extra time was available. The value of the dry erase board was quickly noted and a couple of boards are now in each of the “Barnacle” bags with an erasable marker. However, the bags also have a set of permanent color markers for the color art sheets and I’ve noticed that some of the boards have been permanently marked by the wrong markers. Still, the boards continue to show students that errors will be made while learning, but they can be erased, corrected and overcome.

This past weekend, the “super volunteers” were honored at a party given by the 826LA staff in the rear of a West Hollywood comic book store. I was able to meet some of the other volunteers who help out at both the Mar Vista and Echo Park locations, assist the in-school programs and work on the field trip projects, all to promote the literary creativity of students from grades 1-12. In a presentation by the staff, we learned that 826LA serves more students than all of the other 826 organizations across the country, but many more students are on waiting lists to take advantage of the 826LA programs. It makes me proud to continue to provide my services to the deserving kids in the 826LA program.

For more information about the 826 organization, you can go to 826national.org. Los Angeles residents can check on the happenings of the two local centers by going to 826la.org.

A New Year

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The holidays and bowl games are behind us, and 2014 is fully upon us. So, as I do a quick audit of the past year, I wonder how was my 2013? Well, in the debit column, after a couple hundred resumes uploaded and positions applied for, a few phone interviews and attendance at several networking events, I am still unemployed with my unemployment benefits about to expire. My medical insurance and covering of my deductible for one medical procedure that confirmed I was perfectly healthy took up one third of my basic expenditures last year. A discarded newspaper that swept up into my radiator grill as I was going through the Sepulveda Pass on the 405 Freeway was all it took to cook my car’s engine and leave me without personal transportation for two weeks while a rebuilt engine was installed. My base savings account has definitely taken a hit. However, in the credit column, my retirement accounts are solid and have grown, my home is secure with good equity and a healthy emergency investment account is still at my disposal. My somewhat regular bike and walk schedule through the year trimmed thirteen pounds from my weight. I kept busy donating my time to a worthy education non-profit organization, 826LA, by volunteering as an afterschool tutor for 1-5 grade school students twice a week during the school year and a month long summer camp. The rest of my time was focused on promoting my novel by the expansion of my social media presence and by re-releasing it through AuthorHouse to increase the distribution outlets through which it would be available

One part of my promotional campaign was to connect with fellow independent authors, many of whom were reaching out to me. I began to buy and read from the selection of self-published works being presented to me over Twitter and several author websites. After reading, I would write an honest review and post it on Amazon, Goodreads and Shelfari, then announce the review on Twitter so the author would be aware. I realized that in the current online environment of book retailing a growing number of broadly and honestly received reader reviews were important to elevate a book to the recommendation level on Amazon and other online booksellers, and hoped that some of my fellow indie authors would find time to read and honestly review my book to add to my count. I was able to read 22 indie books in 2013, ranging from several murder mysteries, some character relationship dramas, a few sci-fi and fantasy opuses and some historical romances. There were flaws and issues with some of the works, but in general, I was impressed with the creativity and passion within many of the books I read. It makes one realize that the art of storytelling and emotional revelation is not limited to a few master writers in history, but appears to be an integral part of our collective DNA.

So where does this leave me for 2014? Basically, I have the strong hope that I have built a good promotional foundation for my book as more readers discover it. The job market appears to be improving, but maybe I will have time to focus on my next book. I feel the assistance I have provided to the students in the 826LA program will give them the foundation to be major contributors within their generation. And I hope I am prepared for the new challenges that are always around the corner no matter what year we are in.